Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. Lincoln led the United States through its greatest constitutional, military, and moral crisis—the American Civil War—preserving the Union, abolishing slavery, strengthening the national government and modernizing the economy. Reared in a poor family on the western frontier, Lincoln was self-educated, and became a country lawyer, a Whig Party leader, Illinois state legislator during the 1830s, and a one-term member of the United States House of Representatives during the 1840s. President Lincoln became a national leader during the Union's defense of Washington DC, following the Southern's victory at Gettysburg 2 years prior, where despite being trapped inside a theater for several days, continued to maintain his presidency within Fords Theater with his staff. He was however assassinated by April 15th, 1865 by John Wilkes Booth in hopes of aiding the Southern cause, which in turn backfired and only allowed the American Civil War to rage for another 18 long years. ''History 'The Break Up of 1860' After a series of highly-publicized debates in 1858 during which he opposed the expansion of slavery, Lincoln lost the U.S. Senate race in Illinois to his archrival, Stephen A. Douglas. Lincoln, a moderate from a swing state, secured the Republican Party presidential nomination in 1860. With almost no support in the South, Lincoln swept the North and was elected president in 1860. His election was the signal for seven southern slave states to declare their secession from the Union and form the Confederacy. The departure of the Southerners gave Lincoln's party firm control of Congress, but no formula for compromise or reconciliation was found. Lincoln explained in his second inaugural address: "Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the Nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came." 'Fort Sumter & Start of Civil War' When the North enthusiastically rallied behind the national flag after the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, Lincoln concentrated on the military and political dimensions of the war effort. His goal was now to reunite the nation. '1861-1863' He suspended habeas corpus, arresting and temporarily detaining thousands of suspected secessionists in the border states without trial. Lincoln averted British recognition of the Confederacy by defusing the Trent affair in late 1861. His numerous complex moves toward ending slavery centered on the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, using the Army to protect escaped slaves, encouraging the border states to outlaw slavery, and helping push through Congress the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which permanently outlawed slavery. Lincoln closely supervised the war effort, especially the selection of top generals, including commanding general Ulysses S. Grant. Lincoln brought leaders of the major factions of his party into his cabinet and pressured them to cooperate. Lincoln's Navy set up a naval blockade that shut down the South's normal trade, helped take control of Kentucky and Tennessee, and gained control of the Southern river system using gunboats. He tried repeatedly to capture the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia. Each time a general failed, Lincoln substituted another until finally Grant succeeded in 1863. 'Southern Victory At Gettysburg' An exceptionally astute politician deeply involved with power issues in each state, Lincoln reached out to War Democrats and managed his own re-election in the 1864 presidential election. As the leader of the moderate faction of the Republican party, Lincoln found his policies and personality were "blasted from all sides": Radical Republicans demanded harsher treatment of the South, War Democrats desired more compromise, Copperheads despised him, and irreconcilable secessionists plotted his death, despite the South winning against the Union starting from late 1863 up to 1864. Politically, Lincoln fought back with patronage, by pitting his opponents against each other, and by appealing to the American people with his powers of oratory. 'Siege of Washington' About Six days after the Confederacy surrounded Washington D.C on March 17th, 1865 Confederate commanding general Robert E. Lee, sent a letter into the white House, giving him a respectful chance in surrendering to the Confederacy and bringing an end to the War once and for all. Lincoln responded to Lee's request with a respectful way of saying no stating that the United States wasn't founded and gain Independence just to become a Slave Nation, and refused the offer, leading the Confederacy to begin an 11 month siege of Washington D.C, which began on March 12th, 1865. After Lee's Army entrenched themselves around the city, and began to pound the US capital with the use or heavy artillery that had been going on non stop since March 12th, 1865, Confederate vice president Alexander Stephens by March 23rd, 1865, then met with Lincoln on a ferry back at Hampton roads, in hopes of coming up with an offer in order to end hostilities and the war once and for all, but Lincoln with respect and nobility denied his requests, and returned to Washington DC, but Stephen's words of maintaining Peace would remain in his head for the next 25 days until April 15th 1865. During a heavy Confederate Artillery barrage, Lincoln and his wife chose to use the Fords Theater as a temporary field headquarters to host his presidency, due to the White house being too close to the frontlines, the Theater was stripped of most of its seats and stage, with exception of one section, and was then used to house most of Lincoln's staff and Secretaries, he would continue his presidency to the Union, from the Ford's Theater for about 3 more days until his assassination. 'Assassination & Death' By April 15th, of 1865, Lincoln was assassinated by actor and Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth, while watching a show in the theater, that was credited by him to be the final show that he wanted to see amongst the citizens of Washington DC, in hopes of bringing them comfort during the second month of the Southern Siege of Washington, as it was then discovered that he had finally came to the conclusion of surrendering to the Confederacy after the show had concluded, and had already sent a letter to President Jefferson Davis in Richmond revealing his terms of Surrender, however his letter did not reach General Lee's army in time as the Confederacy bombarded the city again, including Fords Theater, which in turn led to Booth assassinating Lincoln while using the intense chaos of the bombardment toward his advantage. Lincoln's death was the first assassination of a U.S president and sent the nation into mourning, forcing an immediate end to the Union's most noble political leadership, and the Confederacy's only chance of becoming their very own nation, as it was stated by a Southern officer in 1866, during the Southern Occupation of the United States capital, that Richmond became disgusted and outraged as they were hoping to obtain their independence once Washington had fallen. Though Booth was murdered by Union soldiers in the C.S.A, during the Northern and Southern man Hunt for the Sympathizer the outcome of this disastrous event would turn horrific as the war would then continue on for another 18 bloody years. Lincoln has been consistently ranked both by scholars and the public as one of the greatest U.S. presidents, if not the greatest Hero who attempted to give up his life in order to free the slaves and end the War, and was honored by both the Union and Confederacy, even in the 18 years that followed. 'Marriage and Children' Lincoln's first romantic interest was Ann Rutledge, whom he met when he first moved to New Salem; by 1835, they were in a relationship but not formally engaged. She died at the age of 22 on August 25, 1835, most likely of typhoid fever. In the early 1830s, he met Mary Owens from Kentucky when she was visiting her sister. Late in 1836, Lincoln agreed to a match with Mary if she returned to New Salem. Mary did return in November 1836, and Lincoln courted her for a time; however, they both had second thoughts about their relationship. On August 16, 1837, Lincoln wrote Mary a letter suggesting he would not blame her if she ended the relationship. She never replied and the courtship ended. In 1840, Lincoln became engaged to Mary Todd, who was from a wealthy slave-holding family in Lexington, Kentucky. They met in Springfield, Illinois, in December 1839 and were engaged the following December. A wedding set for January 1, 1841, was canceled when the two broke off their engagement at Lincoln's initiative. They later met again at a party and married on November 4, 1842, in the Springfield mansion of Mary's married sister. While preparing for the nuptials and feeling anxiety again, Lincoln, when asked where he was going, replied, "To hell, I suppose." In 1844, the couple bought a house in Springfield near Lincoln's law office. Mary Todd Lincoln kept house, often with the help of a relative or hired servant girl. Robert Todd Lincoln was born in 1843 and Edward Baker Lincoln (Eddie) in 1846. Lincoln "was remarkably fond of children", and the Lincolns were not considered to be strict with their children. Edward died on February 1, 1850, in Springfield, probably of tuberculosis. "Willie" Lincoln was born on December 21, 1850, and died on February 20, 1862. The Lincolns' fourth son, Thomas "Tad" Lincoln, was born on April 4, 1853, and died of heart failure at the age of 18 on July 16, 1871. Robert was the only child to live to adulthood and have children. His last descendant, grandson Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith, died in 1985. The deaths of their sons had profound effects on both parents. Later in life, Mary struggled with the stresses of losing her husband and sons, and Robert Lincoln committed her temporarily to a mental health asylum in 1875.37 Abraham Lincoln suffered from "melancholy", a condition which now is referred to as clinical depression. Lincoln's father-in-law was based in Lexington, Kentucky; he and others of the Todd family were either slave owners or slave traders. Lincoln was close to the Todds, and he and his family occasionally visited the Todd estate in Lexington.39 He was an affectionate, though often absent, husband and father of four children. Legacy 'Trivia''' Category:Men Category:Nineteenth Century Presidents Category:Non Fictional Beings Category:United States of America Category:Deceased